Regina slowly paced in front of her front door, shaking and beside herself with worry and fear. Elza would undoubtedly choose her true love over her, just like Robin had. She wrapped her arms around herself, fighting back the swirl of emotions raging inside of her. A familiar laugh made her look up as Elza returned with Eli draped across her back, trying his best not to fall asleep but failing miserably. The brunette smiled at the happiness that was clearly written across her friend's face. Elza had never looked so happy.
"Regina? Why are you standing outside?" Elza asked, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Mind opening the door?"
Regina nodded and shakily opened the door, praying that James had miraculously disappeared and she wouldn't need to worry about Elza leaving anymore. Elza went upstairs to put Eli to bed and came back down. Regina hadn't moved past the staircase.
"Gina, what's wrong?" Elza gave her a concerned look.
Regina gulped. "What would you do if your True Love came back?"
Elza tilted her head. "What kind of question is that?"
"What would you do? Would you stay with me?"
"Regina Mills, I'm not going anywhere. James is dead and I will always love him, but you and me are eternal." She smiled but Regina wasn't entirely reassured by her words, however beautiful they were. She pointed behind her.
"Elza?"
Elza's eyes went comically wide and Regina heard her breath hitch. "This is a cruel joke, Gina."
"El, I would never do something like this to you. Turn around."
"I don't want to." Elza whispered.
"Elza." James said again. He walked forward and took Elza's hand, gently turning her to face him. He whispered her name repeatedly as he caressed her face, as though he needed reassurance that he was really here.
Regina walked upstairs, unable to see them together, her heart breaking.
Xxxxxx
Elza simply stared at James. She could feel his touch, the same touch that she'd craved since the day she learned of his death. His voice made her shiver with happiness. But something was off. "James? Is it really you?"
"Yes, El." He said, leaning in for a kiss. She accepted it but she found it odd that he called her El. Regina was the only person who called her that. James had always called Ella, simply because he knew it pissed her off when he did. "We can leave this place and be together again."
She frowned as he kissed her forehead. "Leave? James, I'm not going anywhere, Regina needs me. Our son needs me. He needs you too."
"Then he can come with us. We can have the family we always wanted."
"James, I can't leave Regina." She said. "I want our family too but Regina is a part of that."
He sighed and took a step back. "You can't keep letting her control you like this. She's the reason we weren't able to be together in the first place. We lost our child because of her."
Elza scoffed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "For one, she's not controlling me. We weren't able to be together in the Enchanted Forest because you were engaged. And she didn't make us lose our child, I made the choice to go to Arcadia, she didn't force me. What's wrong with you?" She looked him up and down. "You're not really James, are you?"
"Of course it's me, El." He said and she could see something come over his eyes, like a wall trying to hide something and she pushed him away.
"I don't know who you are or what the hell you're doing here, but you need to leave. Now." He suddenly slammed her against the wall with his forearm across her throat.
"I don't think you understand. You don't have much of a choice." James suddenly shifted and became her, a perfect replica of when she was in the Enchanted Forest, except for the added accessory of a collar around her neck. "Now, you're coming with me, love, and you're going to take this collar off my neck."
"One thing first." Elza hissed. "What was the point of pretending to be James?"
"To lure you in, and to break the little heart of the Evil Queen." The fake Elza hissed back.
Elza faltered remembering Regina, but she wouldn't think that Elza would actually leave her, would she? Not after what they'd been through together. Fuck, of course she would. The very thought that she'd hurt Regina sent a wave of rage through her and she pushed back against her assailant. She reached behind her, ramming her fist into the wall and tearing out a huge chunk to slam into the other Elza's face. She turned while her enemy was stunned and ran into Regina's room to find the brunette crying.
"Regina!"
The woman whipped around and tried to wipe away her tears.
"We have a bit of a situation. James isn't James, it's the Cheshire Cat."
"What?" Regina sniffed.
"Look, we need to get out of here and get someplace safe." She transported herself into Eli's room, grabbed her son and transported back to Regina. Regina was still obviously confused but she teleported them to the safety of her vault and Elza placed Eli on a small couch in one of the rooms before rejoining Regina. She grabbed the brunette and kissed her hard enough to bruise their lips. "I'm so sorry if I ever made you think I was going to leave you, Regina. I love you, with all my heart and soul. My True Love is gone, so is yours, but we are soulmates, and I'll never hurt you again."
Regina smiled, on the verge of crying again and kissed Elza again. She wanted to make love to her purple haired friend right then and there, to finally claim her, but there were more important matters to attend to. "What's this about James?"
"Okay, so I told you I kicked the Cheshire Cat, right? And you know that before the Dark Curse he pulled me into wonderland because he was pissed about that. Well, I was only imprisoned for about half the 28 years I was there. The other half was when I escaped from that mangy furball and used a little curse of my own."
Regina sighed with a smirk. "What'd you do?"
"I may or may not have constructed an enchanted collar that made the cat's life a living hell but he was asking for it."
"So he pretended to be James...for what?" The brunette asked.
"To get close to me and to hurt you, but that's not the worst part. He's me now."
"So he's pretending to be you now?"
"Yes!"
"Son of a bitch, Elza." Regina ran her fingers through her hair. "Alright, I'll contact Emma and tell her to be on the lookout."
"Don't you have something here that will help kick this thing's ass?" Elza asked, looking at Regina's shelf of potions. "What if we knock it through a portal?"
"Or you could take the collar off." Regina suggested.
"Regina, you know I never think anything through. I don't know how to take the damn thing off." Elza rolled her eyes. "Come on Gina, this is me you're talking to."
Regina scoffed and threw up her hands. "Oh right, I completely forgot. But, the portal idea sounds like it might work. Do you remember how to make one? It's going to take both of us."
"Of course, I do remember that at least."
"Then we need to gather some supplies."
"Just like old times." Elza grinned.
Xxxxxxxxx
Regina looked around the clearing and nodded to Elza and Eli. Elza waved her hand, stripping it of grass and rocks and Eli set to work drawing the lines in the dirt.
"How powerful is this cat?" Zelena asked, looking down at her wand that Regina had imbued with power in case the redhead needed to fight. The Charmings wouldn't be happy about it, but no one really seemed to care at this point.
"His power has never really been measured, dear." Elza said. "There's no telling, but be wary."
"And if he shows up as Elza with all of her power, what the hell are we supposed to do then?"
"Fight or pee our pants." Eli said, dusting off his hands.
"Then you should start urinating because you're not fighting anyone." Elza said in a firm motherly tone, which sounded strange coming from her, that only made Eli smirk. If he was anything like his mother and father, which he undoubtedly was, then he would find some way to get into the action. "I'm serious, Eli." Elza frowned at him.
"Okay, sheesh." He said, still smirking.
"I cannot wait to see you two during the teenage years." Zelena grinned.
"That indeed would be a sight to see." Regina agreed.
"How about both of you help me with this." Elza said to them.
Xxxxxxxx
Emma watched Elza walk towards her. Regina had called her earlier to tell her to be on the lookout for Elza and to not believe anything she said. Something about it being a fake Elza. Elza walked right up to her and took her hand, leading her away. "Elza, what-"
"Someone's impersonating me and I need your help. Come with me." She didn't give the blonde any time to protest before transporting them to the forest.
"What's going on? What happened to your hair?"
"I changed it so you would know the other Elza isn't the real me." Elza said simply. "Now look, we need to find the other Elza and get rid of her."
Emma narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "How do we do that?"
"We have to kill her obviously, but first." She pointed at the collar on her neck. "This has to come off."
"How did you get that?"
"Why do you ask so many questions? Can you take it off?"
Emma sighed and pretended to try and use her magic, but honestly she couldn't take the collar off if she wanted to. It was surrounded by dark magic and fastened with a powerful spell. "I can't sorry. Ask Regina, she can use light magic."
"She can?"
"Yeah, she used it to defeat Zelena, before they became civil towards one another. Didn't she tell you?"
"No." Elza said, looking around them. She opened her hand and shot a green ball into the air that began zipping its way through the forest. "Come on, this way."
""What the hell is that?" Zelena said, looking at the green thing hovering in the air. "Can I touch it?"
"No, the Cheshire Cat is looking for us." Elza said. "Everybody get to your places, it's time to skin this cat."
xxxxxxxxxx
Elza, or rather the Cheshire Cat and Emma came upon the clearing, but didn't step inside it. The Cheshire Cat called back the green ball of magic and looked around. "Regina should be here."
"Obviously, she's not." Emma said, spotting said brunnette a few feet away hiding behind a tree. She looked around and saw Zelena sitting casually in a tree, lazily examining her wand and the blonde frowned slightly at the woman's lack of interest. "What-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she was suddenly pushed into the clearing where the lines in the dirt began to glow. Regina immediately moved into action to save her before she ruined everything and got her own damn self sucked into the portal.
Elza tackled her look alike into the clearing, only to receive a fireball to the stomach that sent her flying through the air.
"Take off the collar!" The Cheshire Cat yelled, preparing another spell.
Elza ran forward, using magic to give her inhuman speed and strength to bowl her look alike over. She stood up and tossed the cat through the air. Zelena hit her with a spell that sent the cat slamming into the ground.
Regina grabbed Emma and pulled her away from the clearing just as the spell activated. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away from someone that looks like Elza."
"I didn't have much choice when I'm being magically transported places. We wouldn't be having this problem if you just teach me-"
The ground shook as Elza was slammed into the ground. The Cat's foot came down again and again, cracking bones and sending Elza further and further into the dirt.
"Elza!" Regina screamed as she and Zelena both hit their enemy with twin blasts of magic. The brunette ran to her friend while Zelena distracted the Cheshire Cat, and crouched next to her. "Elza?" The woman's eyes had rolled into the back of her head and her chest was undoubtedly caved in. She was barely breathing.
"Mom!" Eli ran from his hiding place to his mother. "Mom!"
"She needs time to heal herself. We need to push the Cheshire Cat into the portal now." Regina stood back up and went to help her sister.
"Mom." Eli whispered. "Come on, Mom. I just got you, I can't lose you. Wake up!" He shook his mother roughly until she groaned. "Mom?!" He jumped when Elza suddenly burst into purple flames. Her eyes opened, glowing bright pinkish purple and she stood up.
The Cheshire Cat currently had both hands around each of the sisters throats. "How does it feel, Evil Queen, to die, looking into the eyes of your soulmate, knowing that she caused your death?" Elza slammed into the Cheshire Cat with full force. She let loose a rain of punches, destroying her look alike's face.
"Don't you ever touch Gina again or I will personally rip you apart!"
The Cheshire Cat switched forms, back to James, hoping that that will calm the raging beast that was Elza, but that only pissed her off even more. She moved to throw the Cat into the portal when it suddenly pulled her with it. She froze, planting her feet, expecting to try and be pulled into the portal with it, but the Cat surprised them all by reaching into Elza's chest and taking her heart. With that, he let go.
"If you will not take off this collar and let me free-"
"You'll kill me?" Elza smirked, hand over her chest.
"You're dying will not be my revenge. The broken hearts of your family that remains will." He grinned. "Or better yet, I'll just kill you and have something to smile about for the rest of my existence. I think I like that plan."
"No!" The Cheshire Cat's grin as he threw himself into the portal, crushing her heart, was the last thing Elza saw.
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